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GHOSTS OF PRESIDENTS PAST are everywhere in the White House. The principal
reception salon, where Pope Benedict shared an 81st-birthday cake with the President and First
Lady, has been adorned in blue since Martin Van Buren dictated the color scheme in 1837. Avid
bowler Richard Nixon had a single-lane alley installed in the basement in 1969. As with many
such White House renovations, private contributors were called upon to foot the bills.